WARWICKSHIRE spinner Ashley Giles in England's latest doubt as injury and illness threatens to ruin the start of their bid to regain The Ashes.

Giles is confined to bed with tonsilitis to add to his Achilles and calf problems.

Now he looks likely to join Graham Thorpe, Michael Vaughan and Mark Ramprakash on the ruled out list for the series opener at Edgbaston on Thursday.

"Ashley was progressing well over the last five or six weeks and he has now got a recurrence and he's in bed with tonsillitis that came on over the weekend, said England physio Dean Conway

"We hope to see him today, but if the temperature is still there it may be enough to rule him out - we need to see him so we can put him through tests to check his Achilles."

Ramprakash was forced to withdraw from the squad after he aggravated a hamstring injury only two days after being named as cover for several injury concerns.

Those injury worries increased later in the day with Thorpe being ruled out for a further 10 days with the calf trouble which has sidelined him for a month, while Vaughan is today expected to be officially ruled out for the next six weeks ahead of keyhole surgery on his troublesome left knee.

It leaves the selectors with little option but to name two batsmen and possibly a spinner as replacements in the hope they can lift the squad's spirits after their disastrous preparation for the opening Test.

Surrey's Mark Butcher, Lancashire's John Crawley, Middlesex's Owais Shah and Nottinghamshire's Uzman Afzaal will all feature in discussions about the two possible batting vacancies while Robert Croft or Phil Tufnell would be ideal alternatives for Giles.